I close my eyes and take a deep breath. I turn around as Viv crouches down, now in her tiger form. She obviously hasn’t noticed dad since she growls, stalking closer to me.
“Hey! Get away from her!” Dad shouts, sprinting towards us. Viv’s head snaps over as she freezes.
As soon as Dad gets to us, he pulls me behind him. Slowly, with one hand up and the other one still holding my arm tight, he slowly backs us up.
“I don’t know what is happening, Vivitina, but if you can understand me, perhaps it’s best to go for a walk? I can tell you’re upset.” Viv looks between Dad and I. I nod in agreement.
“I’ll talk with him. Everything is going to be okay.” I tell her. She takes off, leaving an awkward silence in her wake.
“So she can at least understand us,” Dad mumbles after a moment. He turns to me. “Are you okay, Sweetie?”
“Yeah, I am.” I watch him warily, trying to gauge his reaction. As he recovers from the initial shock, he seems to do the same as me.
“You already knew. Is this what you girls were trying to hide?” I nod, still unsure about how he is taking the news. He sighs before waving me ahead. “Let's go inside. Lillie and your Mom left before I came out, so we have the house to ourselves.”
Once we get back to the house, Dad grabs a coffee while I make some hot chocolate. I stall as long as possible and Dad doesn’t seem to mind. Dad is sitting at the table when I finish, so I join him. He waits as I settle down and take a sip of my drink before starting the conversation.
“So, when did this all start? Is this something your biological parents passed on?” Dad asks.
“Well, remember when I yelled at Mom?”
“The day you went to the hospital from passing out in the woods?” There seems to be a light bulb going off in his eyes. “Did you shift then? Were you expecting it?”
“I didn’t know I could do so when I changed, but that was the first time I shifted…” I tell him about the first time I shifted, then continue onto the time I shifted after leaving school. Finally, I tell him about yesterday and how we expect Lillie to shift next.
“So you’re telling me, you three learn that you can shift and the first thing you and your sister do is fight?”
“Well, the shifts seem to be fueled by emotion, and Viv’s temper doesn’t help.” Dad nods as his expression turns from contemplative, to a brief moment of weariness, before settling into concern.
“How do you feel about all of this? It seems you’ve been too busy taking care of your sisters to worry about your own emotions.” My eyes well up, and for the first time since I first changed into a tiger, I cry. Dad doesn’t hesitate to come over and hug me to his shoulder. After the torrent of emotion filled tears pour out, I sit up with a small smile.
“Thanks, Dad.” He rubs my back and I’m surprised at how calm he is taking this. Thankfully, he lets my tears be the answer to his question and doesn’t ask further.
“That’s what I’m here for. So, what do you want to happen next?”
“Well, I’ve done some research, and so has Viv. But we didn’t get a chance to share our findings.”
“Alright. Then I guess the best thing is to get on the same page.” He looks out the window, before going to the door and waving at someone. I look out and see Viv standing in the tree line. She steps forward and then steps back, unsure.
I need some clothes. I don’t want to come in like this. I hear. I look over at dad, wondering if he heard it too, but he just tries to get her to come in again.
“Shift back and come in, Viv!” Dad calls.
“I’ll go get her a change of clothes, Dad. Our clothes don’t shift with us.” Dad looks a little embarrassed, but nods. After running up to her room, I walk out to where she is and give her the outfit. She takes it from me before walking back into the tree line. I wait a moment as Dad comes up behind me.
“Did you hear anything in your mind when you were waving Viv in?” I ask him.
“No, why?”
“Because I asked her to get me some clothes. I wanted to test a theory. I guess we can use telepathy when in animal form.” Viv says as she walks out, looking at me. “You yelled at me earlier, remember?”
“Yes. And just like I said earlier, I didn’t think you would be able to hear me. Anyway, Dad says we need to look at some research.”
“Are you sure that I should be a part of the conversation?” Viv grunts. Dad comes up and puts a hand on my shoulder.
“Are you girls hungry? Ash, why don’t you fix lunch.” He asks me, clearly wanting to talk to Viv alone.
“I’ll cook today.” Viv volunteers before I can get a word out. Considering how much Viv hates cooking, she is obviously avoiding Dad. I feel awkward since I want them to talk it out, but don’t want to upset Viv a third time.
“No, Viv. I think you and I need to talk.” Viv stops and turns back with her head down. I take this opportunity to back out of the conversation.
“I’ll fix your favorite though, Viv.” I pat her on the back on my way inside.
I am putting the pizza on the table when they walk in. Viv seems to be feeling better since she’s walking quietly behind Dad. Viv sits at the table but Dad walks over to the office before joining us.
“So, now that we’re all together, let’s see what y’all have come up with.” Dad grabs a piece of pizza. “Ash said you both did some research, so who wants to go first?”
“How do you know I did some research?” Viv raises an eyebrow at me.
“I might have seen it on your computer.” I say. She narrows her eyes at me. “I’m sorry.” She rolls her eyes but drops it.
“I didn’t do or find much, just stuff you would see in Hollywood movies.” She explains to Dad.
“The only thing I could consistently get is that it is either genetic or a werewolf bites you. Everything else contradicts itself the more you look.” I pitch in. “Makes it impossible to know which is true.”
“Alright, let’s start a list of what is true.” Dad suggests. “What changes have you noticed since before you shifted?”
For what seems like the millionth time, I list everything I told Lillie, and Viv adds in her details too. We put in the telepathy at the end before taking a break to clear the table and move over to the living room.
“Well, as this continues, we can slowly add to this list. Now, for the next question, do you want to tell Mom?” Dad asks.
Comments (0)
See all